Long Term Athlete Development

Overview

This consultation paper describes a 7-stage Canadian model of Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD), a training, competition, and recovery program based on developmental age — the maturation level of an individual — rather than chronological age. It is athlete centred, coach driven, and administration, sport science, and sponsor supported. Athletes who progress through LTAD experience training and competition in programs that consider their biological and training ages in creating periodized plans specific to their development needs.

Long-Term Athlete Development

1. Is based on the physical, mental, emotional, and cognitive development of children and adolescents. Each stage reflects a different point in athlete development.

2. Ensures physical literacy upon which excellence can be built and:

• Builds physical literacy in all children, from early childhood to late adolescence by promoting quality daily physical activity in the schools and a common approach to developing physical abilities through community recreation and elite sport programs.

• Recognizes the need to involve all Canadians in LTAD, including athletes with a disability.

1. Ensures that optimal training, competition, and recovery programs are provided throughout an athlete’s career.

2. Provides an optimal competition structure for the various stages of an athlete’s development.

3. Has an impact on the entire sport continuum, including participants, parents, coaches,schools, clubs, community recreation programs, provincial sport organizations (PSOs), national sport organizations (NSOs), sport science specialists, municipalities, and several government ministries and departments (particularly but not exclusively in the portfolios of health and education) at the provincial/territorial and federal levels.

4. Integrates elite sport, community sport and recreation, scholastic sport, and physical education in schools.

5. Is ‘Made in Canada’, recognizing international best practices, research, and normative data.

6. Supports the four goals of the Canadian Sport Policy — Enhanced Participation, Enhanced Excellence, Enhanced Capacity, and Enhanced Interaction — and reflects a commitment to contribute to the achievement of these goals.

7. Promotes a healthy, physically literate nation whose citizens participate in lifelong physical activity.

Football Canada and LTAD

Beginning in April 2006, a third wave of sports, including Football launched the process of building their LTAD model. Football Canada began with the “10 Steps to Designing a LTAD Model” process to implement a football-specific LTAD.

Starting October 2006, Football Canada began circulating several different surveys to our membership across the country and into the US (organizations, coaches and players) to gather information on the stages of player development and the key issues facing our Canadian Game.

February 2007 saw Football Canada host a nation-wide conference on the LTAD Model and its effects on Football Canada programs and the football community as a whole. Richard Way of Pacific Sport Life, one of the leading experts on LTAD, introduced the model to our members, who then started the process of developing a football-specific model.

Refinement of the stages of development has already begun as well as the development of the skills matrix for the non-contact disciplines, which are essential to the development of our young athletes and all participants in the “Active for Life” stage of the LTAD model. Several working groups are also being formed to develop the 10 key factors that the LTAD model will provide.

The challenge is to create both a set of standards appropriate for each age/stage of player development, and a simple yet reliable and valid method of assessment to determine whether players are meeting those standards. With objective standards and assessments in place, the success of different coaching methods can be determined, and more standardized, effective coaching methods agreed upon.

The weekend proved to be a giant step forward in getting the football LTAD model off and running. The conference participants will now return to their respective associations and present an overview of the model for further review and discussion.

If you would like to participate in this process or if you would like more information on where we are in the LTAD process please email Ryan Bechmanis at special footballcanada.com. And a sincere thanks to all of those who have answered our LTAD surveys - your help has been invaluable!

For more information, please visit: http://www.ltad.ca

A Sport Parent's Guide 

Information for Parents

Sport for Life Summary

Figures and Tables 

Competition is a Good Servant but a Poor Master

The Female Athlete Perspective 

Maximizing the Sport Experience for Our Children

LTAD Recovery and Regeneration

Sport Specific Charts 

LTAD for Parent